Marija Gašparović and Igor Dugandžić-Cigo are recognizable faces of the Design District Festival Zagreb, and the festival is even more recognizable because of their photographs. Since the Festival’s first edition in 2016, they have been working together and capturing unrepeatable moments, giving the Festival its visual identity and growing together with it.
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The Graphic Workers’ Trade Union House is a true talent fountain outpouring creative individuals in the district. We have started visiting their premises behind the renovated façade almost on regular basis to talk to some of them.
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Boris Ivančić, whose Vivat wine stores have been an indispensable part of the Croatian wine market for the past 25 years, has retained his enthusiasm until today, combining it with high business and aesthetic standards.
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Hrvoje Škurla, a marketing creative director, but also a hands-on businessman when needed, currently rules the Pink Moon Agency, located in Ratkajev prolaz in Zagreb, with a firm hand. During the 18 years he has been in the profession, he has seen it all: he began working at the 101 Radio Station, did freelance work, worked in the Digitel Agency, and the successful agencies he has helmed include Buka and Fahrenheit (later merged with McCann).
We talked to him at a ping pong/conference table, which he compares to the table from the film “24 hour party people”, since all he does with the table, as he does not actually play ping pong, is get his hand gets stuck in the net, but hey, you are paying for the design.
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Lovorka Sršen is the coordinator and main executive producer of the Design District Zagreb festival, and the projects on which she works include the production of various musical events and festivals, including the Motovun Film Festival.
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Maša Milovac is an independent designer whose portfolio comprises a host of successful, often self-initiated projects that emerged as a result of her professional engagement within the Manufakturist collective or her independent work.
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“We’re in the process of clearly defining what it is that we do and who we should talk to, as well as how and what to communicate altogether. In principle, we are interested in a wide context of design, since we, as a graphic designer with experience in photography and a product designer, are a strongly compatible combination.”
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“As a space, the city itself is dead if there’s no possibility of active living in it, like the possibility that this neighborhood had. The exact reason I moved to Tomašićeva Street is that I found this potential here.
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“We have a tendency to live in a balloon that can grow to become our ghetto, which is not good. A man has to sometimes take a tram ride to get a feeling about where exactly he lives.
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“I can say that the ‘hood is alive during any season. It’s alive in the fall, when the traffic in one of the streets in the neighborhood closes down for a day, and we, the neighbors, organize an open-air party.
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“As an economical and practical medium, photography is suitable for lazy people like me. I never considered myself a photographer, I use the medium in an ecological way. I think the world is contaminated with objects, cluttered, needlessly polluted with materials.”
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“I think that neighborhood’s pride and the feeling of belonging have woken up and encouraged thinking about what else can be done to improve our lives. Of course, after the starting enthusiasm it’s important to actually do the organizing… But, enthusiasm is the crucial first step of any activity.”
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“The CAA is very heterogeneous, from artist ‘stars’ oriented only towards gallery and museum exhibitions, artists prone to selling their works on fairs, to artists teaching art in schools. We have to create chances and opportunities for all of these groups of people.”
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A successful representative of the younger generation of Zagreb’s bar owners, Marin Levaj is one of the four co-founders and co-owners of the popular Mojo bar at the very start of Martićeva Street ― that is, at the Croatian Nobles Square.
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“The role of being an editor of an art critique show is a direct result of me being interested in art history, because, after graduation, I turned to modern art – to that which emerges here and now.”
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Nebojša Taraba is successful television producer and journalist, known for the hit-series in forms of reality shows (Dvornikovi, Police Patrol) and urban crime stories (Mamutica).
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Director, producer and former TV-reporter Igor Mirković is one of the most familiar faces of Croatian cinema today.
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“When you need a favor around here, just ask a neighbor if he knows someone who can help you, and they’ll tell you everything. If my car broke down right now, people on the street would help me right away.
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Co-founder and director of Impact Hub Zagreb, who is an engineer by education, but entrepreneur and creative consultant by vocation, came to the neighbourhood from far-away Mexico.
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“It is important for local contents to meet the needs of everyone — those who work in the neighbourhood, those who live here or those who just drop by occasionally.”
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“We want the programme of Oris House of Architecture to be a collage of various contents, but in a quality way. We would say that we have managed to break through little by little.”
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Creative director and copywriter, after years of experience in marketing and advertising, he founded the small, but energetic Señor and joined the creative scene of the neighbourhood.
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“We thought about the neighbourhood environment and the position of our future cafe a lot, and since the space is within a block itself, we chose the ambiguous name Blok bar.
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“In order for good energy to flow, the crucial element is not even quality architecture in the aesthetic sense, but valuable and meaningful content to fill it.”
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“I am thrilled that we have phenomenal guests who like this space and understand our rather relaxed approach to managing the restaurant. We attract people who do not care about silverware or select napkins, they mostly come here to socialize.”
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Once an Englishman in Zagreb, today a local through and through, Jonathan Bousfield is the perfect person to talk to about the similarities and differences between Croatian and British (alternative) culture.
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In approach to the upcoming international festival of illustrations 36 Mountains, which takes place from the 2nd to the 4th of September in Gallery Bačva of the HDLU, we spoke with its founder and artistic director, painter and illustrator Jelena Bando.
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“The guiding principle behind the decoration of my establishment is that the guests have to think I have spent 100 kn, while I have actually spent, let’s say, double that much.
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“While walking through the neighbourhood, I feel as if I were in a novella by Ranko Marinković. I also wanted to distance myself a bit from the city hustle and bustle.
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“There are still a few key points for the neighbourhood and Zagreb that need to be fixed: the old military hospital should be converted, the Badel block should be rebuilt and the contents in Importanne Galerija should be refreshed.
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“It turns out that all we do here is eat, drink and fool around, but that is actually not true; we mostly talk about architecture and design, of course!”
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Since G-MK is one of the oldest creative centers in Martićeva, we visited its curators in order to get a first-hand account of the projects in which the gallery has engaged with its immediate urban environment.
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“I accept everything that goes on around here. I think that here, in this neighbourhood, there are many nice studios and people who are doing great things. I hope that the Design District will not just be like, we are the Design District and that’s it, I hope that people will really come together and do something concrete.”
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“I remember Zagreb from childhood times, when life seemed to be more relaxed. People approached their problems differently, you could feel a certain degree of optimism. I can still feel that spirit in this neighbourhood.”
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“The ground-floor business spaces should primarily be filled with their work atmosphere, and less with cheap decoration. It will all make sense when the windows reveal the productive activity inside, not just the activities related to hospitality, exhibiting, trade… Long live work!…
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“The process of the cultural and creative reaffirmation of Martićeva cannot be compared to similar processes in other big cities in the world, where they can be fascinating, but also jeopardizing.
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“Regardless of who has lived here, the culture of this area has always been civil, as a direct consequence of the nature of residential blocks as one of the ultimate urban forms.
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“When they see something or someone they like, people will rarely react by saying: ‘Oh, this is so beautiful!’ or ‘You look so good!’… Of course, there are always honourable exceptions.”
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“The whole of Martićeva, from its very beginning all the way to Kvatrić and Šime’s restaurant, has become a key space where people like walking and staying. People have created the space and formed a bond with it.”
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“We think that anyone who has started anything on their own is glad when somebody new comes around because we are building a creative scene.”
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“Thanks to technological advancement, today’s amateur filmmaking is no longer about technologically well-versed production, but about a worldview and philosophy based on the accessibility of film and the idea that anybody can make one.”
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“Whenever I visit a new city, I try to settle in the area where you can get a little bit of everything, and not just fancy parts or something like that.”
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“The two basic questions were: where am I going to run and where am I going to go to the market? At the time, the fact that Maksimir was only 10 minutes away by bike, and Kvatrić was in the immediate vicinity, was virtually more important to me than the apartment building itself… Like, if that fit, then everything else would surely be OK as well.”
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“In the past several years, people here have started sharing life, a neighbourhood spirit has emerged, a creative spirit we like, comprised of life values that make up the culture here.”
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“The yard where my atelier, Owl, is located is home to various activities — there is a bicycle repair shop, architectural bureau, seal manufacturing, locksmith, café… It is a community that entices me to work and gives me a sense of connectedness.”
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“There are very different people living here, rich and poor, young and old… You go to Kašić’s park near Kvatrić and you see all those people at one place. Everything is mixed up, you know?”
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“This neighbourhood needs more initiatives that really correspond to the public. There should be a turn from the private towards the public, the ‘creatives’ must communicate with the ‘locals’. The whole community needs to be open.”
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“It seems to me that changes in more creative directions are occurring in the neighborhood, more and more people are moving here (or are already living here) who are starting their own creative projects, more or less connected to the local community.”
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“The transformation of the neighbourhood is in tune with the profile of its residents. It would not work out or be able to progress in this way in a different environment.
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“Booksa has definitely become one of the reasons to come to the neighbourhood, but the development of the neighbourhood itself occurred more or less spontaneously.”
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“The neighbourhood has always been very optimistic. We are referring to the pure energy of the place; we feel more comfortable here than we do in the rest of Zagreb and even in the rest of Croatia.”
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“There are many empty and neglected city spaces that can be converted into interesting places. There is a neighbourhood dedicated to art and creativity in every European capital. I’m glad that my own Zagreb neighbourhood is developing in that direction.”
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“I have been here all my life. I am not a city girl, I am not that type, but I like the fact that I know every saleslady, every librarian, the neighbour who roasts chestnuts in the street, as well as his dad… That is pure local patriotism.”
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